


your side of the bed

by cadyjanis



Series: cadnis [6]
Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: F/F, Feelings Realization, Gay Panic, Hangover, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, Morning After, Post-Canon, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-28 12:30:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17787440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadyjanis/pseuds/cadyjanis
Summary: she walks around to janis’s side of the bed, relieved to discover it’s really her, though she isn’t sure why she had any doubts.like, obviously it’d be janis. who else is dumb enough to sleep with her?—cady spirals the morning after hooking up with her best friend.





	your side of the bed

**Author's Note:**

> this was borne from a conversation with a pal who shall remain nameless

Cady wakes up. Very, very slowly. Almost like her brain and body are at war with each other—her brain is trying to start the day while her body just wants to keep sleeping.

 

There’s some resistance, but ultimately she floats to the top and breaks through to the surface and her tired eyes split open. Golden sunlight pokes through the blinds, warming the bedroom, casting everything in a yellow hue.

 

Once she’s awake enough to feel it, she grimaces at the unwelcome thumping in her skull, the same kind she had after her disastrous party last year. Except she doesn’t remember drinking; she doesn’t remember anything, actually. What _happened_ to her?

 

The second thing she’s aware of is the fact she’s naked. Like, completely naked. She’s not even wearing her favorite pair of fuzzy socks. Afraid there’s a monster beneath the covers, she peeks at herself, unused to seeing her bare body anywhere else but in the shower. Brow furrowed, she looks to the ceiling for invisible answers.

 

Then there’s a soft rustling beside her, a leg twitching, so she slowly looks toward the owner—and it takes everything in her not to scream out loud. She claps a hand over her mouth, not so tired anymore, and scrambles out of bed as carefully as she can without jostling it.

 

Still silencing herself, Cady snatches the robe hanging on her bathroom door and quickly dons it. Pressing her back to the wall, she stares incomprehensibly at her bed and the person occupying it: asleep, dead to the world, blissfully unaware.

 

Cady lowers her hand to steady herself on her desk, trying to breathe quietly. She moves ever so gingerly around her own room, plucking articles of clothing off the floor, both hers and… oh, God help her. This is Janis’s tank top, and her briefs, and—Jesus. Her bra.

 

Cady leaves that where it is, feeling weird about touching it. She dumps the rest into a laundry basket then runs her shaky hands through her rumpled hair, annoyed by the knots she finds. It feels grimy, almost, like something dried there.

 

It better just be sweat or else she’s never letting Janis Sarkisian into her house again.

 

She paces back and forth for a bit, trying to remember but failing, worsening her headache. So she pops a couple Tylenol and hopes for the best, praying Janis doesn’t wake up before she’s figured this out. God help her, _truly._

 

Cady can see the span of Janis’s freckled back, exposed from the uneven covers, and her gut trembles strangely. She steps closer, studying the back of her head. She’s never seen Janis in such a vulnerable state, and their argument after aforementioned party was rough.

 

She walks around to Janis’s side of the bed, relieved to discover it’s really her, though she isn’t sure why she had any doubts.

 

Like, obviously it’d be Janis. Who else is dumb enough to sleep with her?

 

Oh, shit. Cady knew that already, but thinking it is another thing. This wouldn’t suck so bad if it was clearer in her head, if she could just freaking remember.

 

She sneaks out of her room and down the stairs, feeling like a sleuth. Their finished homework is on the kitchen table, backpacks on the free chairs; that’s vaguely familiar. Then she wanders into the living room, where everything is the same except the few beer bottles. She anticipated that, too, but it still bothers her to see them.

 

She disposes of them in the trash and organizes their homework, her jittery hands needing the distraction. After zipping up Janis’s backpack, she returns to her room, where she goes to hide in the closet to check her phone. The irony is not lost on her, but it’s dark in here.

 

She last spoke to her mother at ten thirty last night, her mom saying she loves her and to try to get some sleep. Cady scrolls up at the conversation, no mention of Janis being over anywhere in either of their messages.

 

When did Janis come over and why wouldn’t Cady tell her mom?

 

It’s like there’s a blockage in Cady’s brain, some glaringly obvious fact she’s missing. Which is always frustrating. She’s used to that feeling while doing math.

 

Sighing, Cady gives up on her phone and tries to sneak out of the closet, but is frozen in place again when she sees Janis moving. She holds her breath as Janis stretches, groaning like she is a grizzly bear leaving its cave too early.

 

She rolls onto her back, rubbing her eyes, and Cady wishes she could just hide, but she hates that—she doesn’t want to hide from her best friend. She’s never been scared of her.

 

No, not Janis specifically. She’s scared of whatever the hell this is.

 

She dreads the moment Janis sees her, wincing when she finally spots her by her closet door. Janis’s brow furrows. “Caddy?”

 

Jesus, her morning voice. Cady’s heart stutters in her chest. “Hi,” she says meekly, waving like she’s a child who did something wrong and is trying to avoid punishment.

 

It’s cute, though, when Janis grins a little and waggles her fingers in response. Then she props herself up on her elbows and looks around the room in mild amazement, like she can’t believe it’s still in one piece. God, what were they _doing?_

 

Then she sits up, pulling the sheet with her for Cady’s sake. This is Janis, she’s the last person to care about modesty. “What are you doing over there?” she drawls, patting the empty spot next to her. Cady puts her phone down and crawls back onto her bed, sitting awkwardly.

 

Janis is so pretty. In the morning light, she’s like something sculpted, her dark eyes ten shades lighter, rich and brown and beautiful.

 

“What’s wrong?” she asks, reading whatever stricken expression Cady is wearing.

 

Cady gulps, trying not to panic again. “Janis, what happened?”

 

Janis snorts, grinning wider. She scratches her scalp, then looks at Cady suggestively. “Is that even a question, Caddy?” she teases, and Cady shoves her, so she laughs, laying back down. Cady hides her suddenly burning face in her hands, hopeless.

 

“Nice robe,” Janis says after a minute, tugging at the hem, and Cady swats her hand away.

 

“Shut up.” Cady pulls it tighter around her when she stands, still feeling exposed. Janis quickly realizes she’s not okay, and isn’t joking around.

 

“You look like you’re gonna cry,” Janis notes, now sounding concerned.

 

Cady does then, but swipes at her eyes before the tears can fall. “Hey,” Janis says, getting out of bed, to Cady’s horror. She covers her eyes and turns to face the wall.

 

“Your underwear’s in the—in the basket,” she tells her, and Janis makes this huffy sound, as if it shouldn’t matter. Well, it does.

 

She hears her tug on her briefs and clip her bra, but stays hidden in her hand. Then Janis is behind her, tapping her on the shoulder, and she jumps.

 

But she turns around, dropping her hand. She backs away a step, almost instinctively. Like her best friend is a wild animal she got too close to and has to slink away from very carefully.

 

“Don’t cry,” Janis whispers, and Cady can’t bear to look at her face. She sniffs and shakes her head, refusing to break down. Any other situation she’d let Janis wrap her in her arms and just cry, but now it’s like if they touch they’ll implode.

 

God. Maybe they already have.

 

“Do you remember?” Cady chokes out, feeling like she’s going crazy.

 

Janis shrugs. “Some of it, yeah. If you’re wondering if there was consent, yes, there was…lots of enthusiastic consent.” She nods, smiling, and Cady rolls her eyes.

 

That does make her feel better, though.

 

“You really don’t remember?” Janis laughs softly. “You _cannot_ handle your booze.”

 

Cady shoves her again, harder this time. Janis looks hurt. “Janis! Wake up!” Cady snaps. “You can’t make jokes at a time like this! Jesus Christ, this is _serious._ ”

 

“It’s not that serious,” Janis argues, which is the wrong thing to say, but she looks so good in a black bra Cady gives her a pass.

 

“We got drunk and had sex, I’d say it’s pretty damn serious,” Cady hisses angrily.

 

“Well—okay.” Janis folds her arms, and Cady looks away.

 

There’s a thick, staticky pause, the air prickling with tension and frustration. And then Cady gets the wind knocked out of her with another realization, and her hands fly to her hair. “Oh, shit!”

 

“What?” Janis says, startled.

 

Cady looks at her frantically. “Aaron!” she shrieks, the panic bubbling over. “Oh my God! Janis, Aaron, he—oh my God, I cheated on my boyfriend—”

 

“No, Caddy, no,” Janis interrupts urgently, grabbing her arms to steady her. “No, listen, no you didn’t. You guys broke up last week, remember? That’s why I came over yesterday, you asked me because you didn’t wanna be alone on Valentine’s Day. Okay? You didn’t cheat.”

 

That does little to calm Cady down, because her next thought is, “Oh, God! I rebounded within a week, that’s even worse!”

 

“How is it worse?” Janis asks, but is drowned out by Cady’s miserable moaning. She falls onto her bed facedown, wishing it would swallow her like _Nightmare on Elm Street._

 

Janis sighs and joins her, laying down beside her to pat her back. She allows Cady a moment of grief and self-reflection, then mutters, “I’m sorry.”

 

Cady emerges, now feeling guilty for upsetting her. “Don’t be,” she groans, laying on her back. She drags her hands down her face. Her head still hurts. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

 

Janis pouts. “Is it really that bad?”

 

Cady gapes at her. How she’s not freaking out is beyond her. “Yeah,” she deadpans. “It is. Are you not, like, a little scared right now?”

 

“Of course I am,” Janis replies bluntly, like it’s obvious.

 

“Well, you’re doing a shit job at showing it,” Cady grumbles. “God. _God._ What did we do?”

 

“Each other,” Janis says helpfully, even though it was rhetoric, earning a pillow to the face. But she’s unfazed, merely laughing. Hugging it, she rolls onto her side. She’s adorable, admittedly. “C’mon, just take a breath. Why is this cause for a meltdown?”

 

Cady does as she suggests, but is still frazzled. “Janis. We _slept together._ ”

 

That stupid grin again. “Yeah we did.”

 

“Stop! No, like, we _slept together,_ ” Cady insists desperately. “We got _drunk,_ we probably made out a lot, and we _slept together._ How did that happen? Why did that happen? What possessed us to fucking sleep together?”

 

Janis is quiet for a bit. Then she murmurs, “Because I like you. That’s what possessed me.”

 

Cady looks at her, gutted again. Her eyes are soft suddenly, almost apologetic. Guilty. “I never would’ve had the courage to do anything if I hadn’t gotten drunk,” she continues. “And you just were… I dunno, Caddy, you looked over at me in this weird way, and I felt it in my stomach.”

 

That sounds vaguely familiar now. Pieces of her memory are filtering back into Cady’s head as the morning drags on, but most of it is still fuzzy. But she doesn’t doubt Janis, as terrifying as it is to hear about something you did but don’t recall.

 

And maybe she’s been so caught up in the morning-after panic that she never once stopped to consider the fact she might like Janis, too. A whole lot. And that’s why she’s so scared.

 

“I felt it, too,” she whispers, closing her eyes, remembering it now.

 

There’s a silence then, stretching even as Janis reaches out to tuck Cady’s hair behind her ear and let her fingertips linger on Cady’s jaw.

 

A flash of something, a harder press of Janis’s hands on both sides of Cady’s face. Eager, and begging, afraid to let her go.

 

Aaron never held Cady like that. He couldn’t love her like Janis can.

 

Cady was resistant to the idea of sex for so long; she and Aaron got close to doing it so many times before she had a moment of clarity and realized she wasn’t sure. And she never got _why_ she didn’t feel ready—but as it turns out, it’s not that she wasn’t ready, she just…didn’t want to have sex with Aaron in particular. Which is strange given how crazy she was for him.

 

She remembers the breakup now, and feels sick. She remembers what lead to it, and wants to die. Nothing happened except she came to the conclusion that something didn’t feel right, and it’d be best to go their separate ways. They made long distance work, that wasn’t the problem. Cady just didn’t feel like herself around him anymore.

 

But Janis—God. Janis brings out the best in her, makes her pursue it. They’ve been through a lot together. And the butterflies Cady should’ve felt for Aaron started sprouting whenever Janis called her, or they saw each other in homeroom. And if Cady’s being super honest, that feeling has probably been there from the start.

 

Her crush on Aaron, while valid, wasn’t what it cracked up to be. But they had to date, right? It was what she wanted. She became a Plastic in her attempt to date him. So how could she not stay with him? Everything worked out the way she hoped it would.

 

Except it didn’t, because here she is less than a year later, single and hungover and waking up naked in bed with her best friend.

 

Her best friend who she obviously thinks of more than a friend enough to have sex with her.

 

Her best friend who obviously must think the same about her.

 

Cady’s not sure which scares her more.

 

“Hey.” Janis is quiet, hand on Cady’s elbow. Cady opens her eyes at the sound. “You know we don’t have to rush into anything, right?”

 

Cady nods mutely, just barely holding it together. Realizing you’re in love with someone else is a terrible feeling, but she’s consoled by the fact she didn’t cheat on Aaron.

 

“It happened,” Janis points out gravely. “And we can’t take it back. But we can deal with it. And we’ll just have to take it slow, okay? Just…one step at a time.”

 

“You mean, we _can’t_ just brush this under the rug and act like it didn’t happen?” Cady jokes.

 

“No,” Janis says, but she’s smiling.

 

Cady sighs, inching closer, tracing the shape of Janis’s mouth with her finger. It calms her, and that’s how she knows she’s actually screwed.

 

“For the record,” Janis murmurs, looking small and sheepish, “I had a good time.”

 

They make eye contact, and Cady is struck with the urge to kiss her.

 

She remembers enough about last night to say, “I did, too,” because really, as far as first times go, that was amazing. The cloud of her hangover lifts just slightly for her to recall how stuff felt, and that it was good. Really good.

 

“You don’t regret it, then?” Janis asks meekly, like she’s afraid of being rejected.

 

Cady shakes her head, blushing still. “No. I couldn’t if I wanted to.”

 

Janis’s eyes glance longingly at her lips, but there’s really nothing stopping her now.

 

Cady takes a deep breath. “You can, if you want to,” she whispers, and that’s all Janis needed to hear. She closes the already minimal gap between them and kisses her, soft and sweet, but Cady’s toes curl regardless.

 

“What now?” she murmurs after, bumping her nose to Janis’s.

 

Janis shrugs. “I don’t know. That’s the fun part. We can make it up as we go.”

 

Cady wouldn’t want to do that with anyone else.

 

They leave the bed then, fingers linked, and it just seems natural to wander into the bathroom together. Janis finds Cady’s lips again, fingers untying her robe’s sash then easing it off of her shoulders. It crumples at her feet, where Janis’s underthings soon join it.

 

Cady gets the hot water going, it also seeming natural to conserve it by tugging Janis into the shower with her. Her heart is racing, but from the eagerness to just kiss this girl and touch her wherever her hands can reach.

 

Janis apparently is, too, and they make good use of their time in here.

 

“I’m so glad my parents are out of town this weekend,” Cady gasps as Janis nibbles on her neck.

 

“Oh, shit.” Janis stops suddenly, pulling back to stare at Cady with wide eyes, droplets clinging to her eyelashes. “Um. Caddy. It’s Friday.”

 

There’s a pause, and for a minute the only sound is the water hitting the floor. Then they shrug and keep at it, because there’s no point in stopping, not even for school.

 

Damian’s most likely having a conniption wondering where they are and what they’re up to. He will be very pleased, though, to discover they hooked up.

 

On freaking Valentine’s Day, no less. Which sounds crazy and not like Cady at all, but she was honest when she said she didn’t regret it. The right side of her bed won’t be so empty now.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! kudos and comments are fetch ♡


End file.
